Manufacturing jobs have been declining in the state for more than 30 years.

Those losses could support the view that the sector is on its way out.

But job totals alone don’t tell the full story of manufacturing, says Tony Crumbley, vice president of research at the Charlotte Chamber.

The value of production continues to rise, meaning the sector is still making a contribution to the state.

“Productivity and wages are going up as manufacturers are using more technology-based processes with fewer workers with higher skills who are being paid more,” says Ronnie Bryant, chief executive at the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

That trend is making Charlotte more competitive as a location for manufacturing facilities. In first quarter of 2010, according to the chamber, manufacturing was the biggest source of job creation here, with 1,276 positions announced. New and expanding manufacturers made the largest commitments to investment in equipment and facilities at $175.9 million. In 2009, 32 new and expanding manufacturing firms announced the creation of 1,553 jobs, an all-time high.

The 103 new or expanding financial services firms announced 4,550 jobs last year.

Growth in manufacturing jobs was the result, in part, of the largest manufacturing project in Mecklenburg County since 1978, when IBM Corp. began operations in University Research Park. In May 2009, Siemens Energy Inc., which makes products for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, announced a $50 million expansion that will create 226 jobs over five years. The average salary at its repair and manufacturing center will be $49,082, excluding benefits.

“Manufacturing is alive and well in the Charlotte economy with large significant players,” says Bob Morgan, Charlotte Chamber president. “We may not get another announcement on the Siemens scale, but our economic-development prospect files suggest Charlotte remains competitive for major manufacturing operations.”

The health of manufacturing can be seen in the region as well. In June, Clearwater Paper Corp. announced a $260 million tissue-products plant in Shelby that will create 250 jobs.

The good news in manufacturing employment comes after sustained declines. In the fourth quarter of 1990, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission, there were 226,182 manufacturing workers in the state with a payroll of $1.3 billion. In 2000, the figures were 202,785 and $1.9 billion. By December 2009, the employment figure had shrunk to 110,531 and the payroll declined to $1.35 billion.

To make their efforts to recruit manufacturing firms more effective, local economic-development agencies are focusing on promising industries.

The chamber is joining the partnership in targeting six fields. Three of them — medical devices/health care, energy and the environment, and defense/aerospace — are manufacturing-intensive.

The area already has the largest concentration of medical-device makers in the state.

Charlotte also is building a cluster of energy companies it hopes will draw even more manufacturing facilities here.

For example, Morgan says the presence of Duke Energy Corp. was key to the 2009 decision by Toshiba American Nuclear Energy Corp. to open a national project-management and engineering center here. The $2.8 million investment will create 194 jobs, most of them in nuclear engineering and paying an average of $122,037 annually.

Two other international players, The Shaw Group and Areva NP Inc., also have major operations in Charlotte. Shaw, involved in plant engineering and construction, has more than 1,000 employees here. Areva, which designs and builds nuclear power plants, has 500 employees.

“I’m optimistic about our region’s ability to compete in the energy area,” Bryant says. “We have the infrastructure in place to support these kinds of companies, and we are getting out in front of the competition to be a trendsetter and leader.”